Dragon Ball GT: The Next Generation
by Saiyan5Nine-tails
Summary: Here is my rendition of Dragon Ball GT, and I how I believe it could have went.  Incorporating movie-exclusive characters into new roles, and some characters of my own in the story, I hope you will find it an exciting story and a new take on the series.
1. Prologue

_**Summary: In the eight years since the last Tenkaichi Budokai tournament he participated in, Son Goku has taken Majin Buu's reincarnation, Uub, to train as the world's next defender. The event of Gohan's publishing of the book **__**Groundbreaking Science **__**in Age 890 caused a resurgence of the Z-Fighters' training. Eight years have passed, and on this day, a new mystery will reveal itself, bringing with it new adventure, new allies, new powers, and new adversaries...**_

**Son Residence**

"Pan," Chichi called out, "Remember to finish all of your work before you go out to train. You want to do more than fight, don't you?"

Up in an added upper floor of the house, a black haired girl with the build of an athlete, sat with a stack of books at her desk, writing down the answers to the assignment she was given. She had hair like her mother's, and was wearing a uniform like her grandfather's. Pan answered,

"I'm just about done, Grandma."

Pan couldn't wait to get out into the world, and see if she could break her record again, which she had been doing since she was but four years of age. She may be going through education like her father, but she still had a passion for fighting, inherited from her Grandfather, Goku. Remembering her rarely present Grandpa, she briefly set her pencil down to think. He had left eight years ago, having taken on Uub as his student, teaching him to unlock all of his hidden power over time. She could easily tell when they were sparring; it could be sensed by any of the Z-fighters. She dearly missed him. She was the kindest man one could ever hope to have as part of the family. Well, him and Mr. Satan, her other Grandpa.

Pushing him out of mind, she kept on writing until she had finally finished all of her questions. Giving a shout of joy, she jumped out of the chair, went down stairs, kissed her parents on the cheeks, and waved good-bye as she flew.

"She's quite enthusiastic about training, isn't she," Videl said to Gohan, who was going over his notes, as his research demands it.

"Yes, she always has been." Gohan fell into thought. "I guess she got it from Dad. The passion for fighting is strong in her."

"...Yes, I guess so," Chichi said, and sat down. "He's rarely around lately, due to being with Uub. I miss him so much. He was finally here for a period of time of ten years, and then he's off training Uub. It's just like him; one day he's a family man, then he's either training to fight some world-threatening menace, for the sake of it...or he's dead. But still, he tries to be the best parent figure that he can when he's around, so that is an up-side."

"Yes, and not only that, the entire shape of the world is currently changing, especially," he said with a chuckle, "Well, I was the one responsible."

The existence of Ki was no longer a secret anymore to the world at large. It was around 2 years ago that Gohan had published his most famous work, "Groundbreaking Science", which introduced the concept of Ki to the world at large. There were a couple of snags, such as Hercule (or Mr. Satan, if the reader prefers), so swiftly being ousted as the strongest man in the world. Surprisingly though, he didn't mind; Goku and the others were his family now, and Pan his Grand-daughter, and as he put it, a relative of Satan will still be the strongest in the world.

It immediately revolutionized Martial arts as a whole, and due to this, Kuririn and Tienshinhan had re-established the Turtle and Crane fighting schools. He heard the training regimens were intense, but Gohan felt that it was for the better; after all, it couldn't be just the Z-fighters protecting the Earth forever...

"Can you imagine it's been 18 years since the world has been threatened by anything?"

"It's quite hard to believe," said Gohan. "because we couldn't go at least seven years without some trouble popping up that we had to deal with. But it must be quite lonely for Pan, what with Bulla training strictly under Vegeta's supervision, and Marron with Kuririn and 18, and on top of that, the Turtle School and Crane School keeping the rest busy as well. By the way, Mom, do you know what Goten is doing at the moment?"

"Hm...He said he was going over to Capsule Corps to visit Trunks," said Chichi. "But knowing Vegeta, he's probably tearing into them right now."

"Relax, Mom," Videl said to her mother-in-law, "I'm quite sure he's not as hard as Gohan said he used to be."

Gohan put down the notes he was working on after working three hours straight, and looked out the window. "_Vegeta's not the type to relax", _he thought to himself, _"__since the last time I saw him, he wanted to achieve Super Saiyan 3 like Dad." _

"Don't be too sure," Gohan told her, "he's probably fighting 2-on-1 with them right now."

**Capsule Corps**

Actually, it was 3-on-1: Vegeta vs. Trunks, Goten and Bulla. Vegeta had taken to constructing a colossal underground gravity chamber about 10 km by 10 km over the past 8 years, and it had finally been completed the year prior. Its purpose, as Vegeta explained, was to allow large scale battles impossible to simulate in the Capsule ships, and push himself to the limit. It was built a ways out, so as to not attract any attention.

The ground shook and broke apart as Vegeta casually blocked and counter-attacked every move that the kids threw at him. "Come on," he said, "you all should be used to 600-times normal gravity by now."

It was enough to make Vegeta sweat a little, but Trunks, Bulla and Goten struggled, all of which were bruised up from the blows that Vegeta landed. In one swift motion, he hit all three of them, knocking them back into a nearby wall.

"Return gravity to Earth norm," Vegeta stated, and a massive humming filled the room, as the gravity dialed itself down. "Trunks, Goten, you say that's the best you've got? Bulla's better than you at the moment."

"Sorry Dad," Trunks said, "But with running the company and the Sword School, I haven't gotten the time to really put in training like you do. I'm busy teaching others right now, you know."

Vegeta dwelt into thought; it was true that Trunks was busy running the company and teaching Humans how to channel Ki through swords, and never had any real time to do sparring lessons. It just irked him a little that Goku and Gohan were always one step ahead of him, and it was due to his pride: someday, Vegeta wanted Trunks to surpass him, as his son and heir.

"I understand, son," he finally said, "But before you leave, I want to do some one-on-one against you. All-out, no holding back."

"Well, you'd have to hold back anyway," said Trunks. "after all, you do have more experience."

"Too true." In that moment, Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan 2. Looking at Trunks, he nodded. Trunks screamed, and a blinding flash of light came forth, and he stood there, his hair straight up and golden, with electricity dancing around his body. Vegeta smiled: it took him longer than Gohan, but his son had become a Super Saiyan 2.

"Let's go, Dad," Trunks said.

"_He's becoming more like the Trunks I first met."_ Vegeta thought with a smile_. "I couldn't be more proud of him."_

"OK." They charged towards each other.

**Kami's Lookout**

On top of Kami's Lookout, Piccolo stood, looking out over the world. He spread out his mind to the world, observing as Kami used to when he was once split between two beings. He observed all the Z-Fighters around the world from Kami's look-out. He saw Kuririn and Tien teaching their disciples about Ki, how to utilize and harness its power. Kuririn's teachings, having taken over the aged Master Roshi's Turtle School, emphasized team work between his students, and overwhelming stronger opponents with multiple attacks. Yamcha was also there as an assistant instructor, and they passed on their techniques to their students.

The teachings at the New Crane School, led by Tien shinhan and Chiaotzu, on the other hand, teach under the belief that even the strongest of enemies can be over-whelmed with a sufficiently powerful ki attack. Piccolo knew there was some merit to this, as he himself had done it before against Raditz all those years ago, and Tien himself was able to hold down the Semi-Perfect Cell with the Neo Tri-Beam. Tien told him that this belief stemmed from learning Goku defeated Majin Buu with the Spirit Bomb. Because of some of the life-threatening techniques taught in the New Crane School, some ethical issues arose, leading only the fearless and most determined to remain under Tien's teachings.

The competition between the two schools was fierce, especially considering the new level of power Tien and Kuririn had both unlocked for Humans.

Goten and Trunks had opened their own school, on the very year _Groundbreaking Science _was published, and a year before Krillin and Tien opened their own schools. They decided to call it the Kikoukenjutsu Sword School. Their inspiration came when Gohan revealed in his book that when Ki is channeled through a sword, even the densest material in the Universe, Kachin, could be cut. It was a very popular school, and perhaps because they started a year later, the most successful. Their first class of graduates then taught newer students, especially whenever Vegeta called the boys up for sparring - whenever Trunks wasn't running the company, of course.

Piccolo chuckled a bit. Trunks teaching sword techniques. It really brought him back to the day when the Trunks from the future killed Freiza with a sword.

Having already checked up on Goku and Uub, Piccolo decided to continue the purpose of this particular observation of the world: a certain boy of a peculiar level of power.

It wasn't hard to find him at all. He was at his usual spot, doing what he usually did every Saturday. He noted that Pan was also flying by, and Piccolo knew that when the boy was training, it was the only time where his Ki, while still low enough to not be sensed for thousands of miles, was still high enough for someone who happened to be flying by that day to notice. Piccolo simply smiled.

"It is finally time for that boy to be found by someone other than myself," Piccolo said, recollecting the first time he discovered the time he found both the boy's Ki, and that of his parents. "Just what are their origins...and why did they remain hidden all this time?"

In the air, high above the world, Pan was having the time of her life. Ever since she was little, she would always be flying around the world, trying to beat her record, and be just like Grandpa: a great fighter in her own right. Today, she just felt like taking it easy, and took the time to enjoy the breeze of the air and the dampness of the clouds when she took the chance to fly through them. It also brought back memories of Goku. She dearly missed her grandfather, and his happy comments on how well she improved in her training. Even though it was only when she was four years old, she remembered it, and the faith he had in her at her first tournament.

The tournament where he met Uub. She knew that he was always enthusiastic about training a new fighter, but he also left his family behind. She knew he visited from time to time, but it still hurt about how long he was away from home. But she didn't mind; she still had Mom and Dad to train her, and 'Uncle' Piccolo, as she used to affectionately call him.

Suddenly, something happened: she sensed someone she wasn't familiar with, right below her. Curious about who it was, she decided to post-pone breaking her previous best time, and see who it is. She decided to land a ways away, and suppress her Ki so she could surprise whoever it was, though she had an idea that person had already sensed her presence.

When she landed, she found herself at World's End Canyon. Not only was it the biggest and deepest canyon on Earth, but it was also where Earth's biggest and most powerful waterfall was located.

Pan looked down into the canyon. The presence she was sensing was down below. Cautiously, she went a further ways down along the canyon side, and descended into the canyon itself. Touching down at the side, she ran towards the source of the presence, and when she felt she was close enough, she hid behind a rock. She looked out behind the rock to find out who it was.

The person in question was just a boy no older than Pan herself was.

Sitting on a tall rock directly under the water-fall, the boy wore a pitch-black gi. Pan also noted his blood-red hair, and noted the water-fall above him. It wasn't meditation training under the pressure of a waterfall that the boy was doing, but something far different.

This surprised Pan, because the waterfall was called 'Death's Fall,' due to the fact that anyone normal caught in it was killed by the immense speed, weight and pressure of the water just going towards the waterfall. Anyone who fell down the fall and into the fall was ripped apart and pulverized. Yet Pan was mesmerized, though not because the boy was withstanding the fall's power:

The boy looked like he was **controlling **the water.

It was plainly obvious for Pan to see due to the mass of water a foot above the boy's head, whereas the rest of the waterfall around him crashed down into the water as usual. As it seemed like a force pushed up against the water, any excess water was pushed aside to fall with the rest of the fall.

Through the mist and vapor generated from the fall's power, Pan could just make out a new movement the boy was making. He put his hands together in prayer, and Pan sensed the gathering Ki energy in his hand.

Then he threw them out to his side.

The entirety of Death's Fall stopped in a perfect line above the boy's head, all 2 kilometers of it.

Pan was in awe. Death's Fall was located in the dead-center of the canyon, and the centuries of water carving out the landscape in both directions is what gave the Canyon its reputation as the worlds largest. To hold back that many tons of water pressure, even with Ki, was astounding for someone his age.

Curiosity got the better of Pan, and she moved closer, jumping onto an adjacent rock in front of the boy. She called out to him.

"Hey there!"

The boy's eyes shot open. Pan realized in an instant that holding up the fall not only required Ki, but **unbroken concentration.** At that moment, the fall came crashing down on the boy and Pan.

"What on Earth were you doing, breaking my concentration like that? We both could have been killed!"

"Well I'm sorry if I didn't know how you are doing that! I wasn't aware you were **actually** controlling water, you hydro-kinetic brat!"

This was Pan and the boy just after they got out of the water and out of World's End Canyon. The boy was miffed with Pan that his training was interrupted, and Pan wanted answers as to how he managed to do what he did.

"Just precisely how did you manage to do that in the first place?" Pan said, scratching her head. "You weren't even holding back it with Ki, and your explanation is not enough."

The boy sighed. "First off, how about an introduction? You owe me one for interrupting my training."

"My name is Son Pan." Pan began. "Now what about your -"

"Wait." The boy lit up with curiosity, "**The **Son Pan? The granddaughter of the retired World Champion Hercule? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"But we've never met…" Pan spoke, and then it hit her. "You saw the 28th World Tournament, didn't you?"

"8 years ago." he said casually, "My parents took me to that tournament. I admit, I was impressed on how you took out that weakling." Pan sweat-dropped. It was true that she took out White Tiger as a toddler. "Of course, it would have only taken me one hit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pan asked. "Besides, if you and your parents are so tough, how come you've never fought before at these tournaments?"

He shrugged. "No competition at all at those tournaments."

Pan smirked, as she sat down. "No competition, eh? Seems to be I could be a good competitor."

"Well," the boy said, thinking about something, "my parents prefer their privacy when it comes to fighting. ...Do you want to meet them?"

"But what about your explanation about what you did?"

"My father is the man who taught me the technique. I haven't gotten it down pat yet, so you could ask him...but he's not the most sociable man."

"Why is that?"

"...He's not exactly a man who has the best of pasts."

Pan looked at him in a confused manner. This boy was very powerful, no doubt about it, so his father must have been a monster as well. But how come she had never heard of this boy's family before? Speaking of which, she still didn't get his name...

"If it is any consolation, my name is Bard," the boy spoke.

**( Note: ****Bard is the term for a professional poet in Celtic Mythology)**

Pan looked at him, and simply smiled. "That's a nice name."


	2. Surprise Entrance

Surprise Entrance

"So what you are trying to say is," Pan spoke, as the two had decided to run to Bard's residence, "that even inanimate objects like rocks and stuff have some Ki inside themselves too?"

"That is the basics behind my father's explanation," Bard explained to Pan. "Everything in the universe has a certain amount of spiritual energy, or "Ki" being the relative term. It can almost be considered a sort of 'Ki Pantheism', as it was described by him."

_**- Pantheism is the belief that "God is the Universe, and the Universe is God". In this case, it means that 'ki' exists in everything in creation. Along with elemental manipulation, there is one more reason this concept was introduced -**_

"So how is it that your Dad knows all this stuff? I mean, my own Dad never even stumbled upon the concept you are speaking of."

Bard stopped in his tracks, as he pondered how to respond to that question. "My grand-father has been studying Ki ever since he saw it in the 21st Budokai tournament **your** grand-father fought in. Once he got older, he made it his life's work studying Ki. It was only a personal interest, and not for public use," he turned around and almost seemed to glare at Pan, "which is why he let your Dad go ahead and publish his book without giving him his own knowledge on the subject.

"As for my Dad..." Bard continued, his voice hardening. "As I said, he's not a sociable man, and likes his privacy."

"Hey, I was just -"

"If you want to know what this is all about," Bard interrupted, "you should just ask him...the next time he comes back home."

At that, Bard started off at a run again, leaving Pan standing there. "Honestly," Pan spoke to herself, as she began running after him. "His Dad's not the only one who is very sociable."

**Kami's Lookout**

Piccolo observed the conversation with great interest. The talk about the grand-father, Piccolo could understand, but the father...just who or what was the father?

Aloud, Piccolo spoke to himself: "Elemental Ki? Ki existing in inanimate objects? Manipulating the ki in matter through exertion of one's own ki? The second one is of no concern of mine, but the first one and last one are things I've never heard of before."

Ki existing in inanimate objects was of no surprise to Piccolo. After all, he himself had the ability to create objects out of thin air. Granted, that was magic, but Piccolo believed that the concepts were connected somehow. But ki that was based on the elements? Controlling physical matter through Ki? He understood that one's own physical body could change form through transformations induced by Ki, but the boy's descriptions seemed alchemical in nature. 'Changing solid rock into water' was the one example he demonstrated to Pan.

Piccolo closed his eyes to contemplate this new info, when Goku showed up at Kami's Lookout with Uub. "Hey Piccolo!" Goku said happily, "What are you doing?"

When Piccolo didn't answer initially, Goku wondered what was going on. He walked over to Piccolo's side, and leaned over to see his face. "Piccolo?"

Piccolo opened his eyes and spoke. "Keeping an eye on Pan," Piccolo commented. "She's with a boy named Bard."

It took Goku a second to process the news before he yelped. "You mean Pan has a boy-friend?"

"Idiot!" Piccolo protested. "I wouldn't be concerned if it were as simple as that!"

Goku looked a Piccolo confused. He blinked, and he started to chuckle. "I see," Goku stated with a smile, "does that mean he is strong?"

Piccolo tried to respond, but what could he say? He didn't know the boy's upper limits. No matter how hard he focused, or how much the boy seemed to exert in his training, Piccolo just couldn't get a bead on Bard's power. It was as if he had a way of hiding his aura without needing to decrease his power at all. It is what kept him and his family hidden for so long.

"...I do not know," Piccolo said curtly, "and that is why I am concerned."

"Don't be," Goku stated, and put two fingers to his head, "I'll just go over and see for myself. Uub, you're coming with me."

"Yes, sensei," Uub stated, intrigued by the conversation, and wanted to see who this "Bard" person was himself.

"W-wait, Goku!" Piccolo spoke in a panic. "The boy's father is -"

"Sayonara, Piccolo." Then Goku and Uub were already on the other side of the planet where Pan and Bard were.

As he observed, the boy was quite shocked at Goku and Uub's sudden appearance, and Piccolo only grew more concerned that the boy seemed to actually know that Goku used _Instant Transmission, _a fact surprising both Pan and Goku equally.

Watching the scene unfold, Piccolo muttered to himself the warning he tried to give Goku: "The boy's father..."

"...So, you are Son Goku," Bard said in wonder, "the strongest man in the world?"

"Well, I'm not exactly the strongest," Goku spoke, scratching the back of his head, "Gohan is much stronger than me."

"Pan's father? No way!"

"Well," Pan admitted, "Dad doesn't train much anymore. He just doesn't have Grandpa's drive."

"I think I can relate," Bard stated, erring on the side of caution, "though my father has a far different...motive behind his training than just for the sake of it."

"Hm, that is odd," Goku spoke to no one in particular, folding his arm. "I would have thought I'd have heard something about your Dad by now if he's stronger than you."

"What do you mean," Bard said defensively.

"It's the aura coming off you. It'd be impossible to sense at a distance, but now that I'm this close to you...You're hiding your Ki somehow, aren't you?"

Bard was desperate to change the subject. He didn't want to let something slip. "Well, yes I am. But why did you suddenly decide to drop in?"

"I wanted to see what kind of a guy Pan's boy-friend was."

"Wha-" Bard said in a flat tone.

"G-g-Grandpa!" Pan screamed, beat as a peach. "I just met the guy! How could he possibly be my boy-friend?"

"You mean it was only today?" Goku questioned. "No wonder Piccolo was concerned."

"Piccolo-san also said," Uub added, "or at least attempted to say something about this guy's Dad. But Goku-sensei took us here before we could finish."

Suddenly, a cold chill literally washed over everyone, as the temperature plummeted. Pan noted that frost seemed to gather on plant leaves, and the river nearby started to freeze. She looked at Bard, and to her shock, noted that **he **was the cause of this, apparent by the completely frozen ground by his feet. Goku stared in curiosity, while Uub and Pan took a step back.

"Be thankful that he didn't finish."

He looked at everyone around him, and noticed Pan's shocked face. Realizing what he was doing, he calmed himself down, and things returned to normal. "It has become a sort of reflex of mine," Bard spoke, "and it is hard to explain, but I'll -"

"That ki," Goku said, wearing a frown on his face, "that was Elemental Ki, wasn't?"

"Grandpa?"

"W-what?" Bard said in shock. "Impossible! I thought only my Dad knew about that! How is it that you know about it?"

"I spent seven years in the After-Life," Goku said casually, "and I met many strong fighters who could use Ki types like that."

Bard had this incredulous look on his face. Pan figured it must have been his first time seeing someone who had died and come back to life.

"By the way, I'd like to meet your Dad. He sounds like an interesting guy."

Bard looked up at Goku, and then looked down. "He's not home right now." He looked away, gritting his teeth. "He's off on...business."

"Really," Goku asked, "that's a shame. If he's hiding his Ki like you, he'd be a pain to find."

Suddenly, Bard's face lit up like the morning sun. "But I can introduce you to Mom," he said happily, "she'll gladly welcome you."

"Great," Goku said happily, "then lead the way. Is she strong too?"

Bard smiled. "I'd be hard-pressed to find anyone stronger." With that, he took off, and Goku, Uub and Pan followed.

"Well, he certainly lit up when he talked about his mother," Uub spoke to Goku, "though I'm not surprised. Considering how he seemed to speak about his father, his mother must be the polar opposite."

"...Or the only one home most of the time."

Goku and Uub looked at Pan, who was deep in thought. "Bard seems like a nice guy, but when it comes to his father...I could have sworn his teeth could have made sparks at that moment."

Goku turned his head back towards Bard. "Yet he's the guy who knows all these tricks that he passed down to his son. Just...who is his father?"

**A Lava Planet in the East Galaxy**

"C-Cooler-Sama! Cooler-Sama!"

He screamed his master's name, but knew without a communicator, it was useless. All Malaka could do was run...run from the demon that was behind him.

He came out of nowhere from the stars. They thought he'd be easy prey, considering the low power level they observed. He observed from a distance, content to leave it to his soldiers. Suddenly, they were all dead, and standing before him was the man responsible...a man he knew all too well from stories he heard, and was once a child he saw taken from his home-world.

His rumored death was well known, and his ruthlessness was so great that when Frieza, Cooler, or Cold's soldiers wanted to scare one another, they told stories about that man. He was a demon who had the power over all the basic elemental ki, legendary powers that scared even Frieza's clan. He'd cleanse entire planets single-handed, turning the very elements of the worlds against their populations. One would normally say that this is what prompted Cooler to try to kill him, but the truth was that he went rogue, and nearly killed Cooler in what many perceived to be a kamikaze attack that left the planet scorched as if hit by a super-nova. He was loyal to Cooler as if he were his father, but it was doubtless, Malaka knew, that he did it because he heard what happened to his home planet.

It was thirteen years ago that the demonic man re-appeared, and killed Turles, one of the last remaining Saiyans loyal to the Planet Trade Organization, and leader of the West Quadrant Trade Group.

Now, he had come to this sector, and Malaka was trapped at the edge of a cliff leading to a lake of lava below. He turned towards the man, and knelt down to accept his fate. What he spoke next surprised him: "Get up off your knees."

Malaka dared to look up, and stared into a face he recognized, despite having changed with age. He got off his knees, and onto his feet. Those same piercing purple eyes inherited from his mother, yet the same silver hair that set him apart from others like him. ...No, he was never like the others of his race to begin with.

"K...Kanto..." Malaka spoke hopefully. "You don't mean that after all this time you..."

"Yes, I do remember," he spoke coldly, and stepped forward menacingly.


	3. NOTE: Battle of the Gods

Ahh, what an inconvenience the new Dragonball Z movie has turned out to be. It greatly clashes with what I established in the first few chapters of my story.

Oh well, I suppose I'll put up a notice in the next chapter I release explaining any discrepancies between it and the earlier chapters.


	4. Owen Puck

**Owen Puck**

"I appreciate that you two have decided to come on as hired help. It is surprising, considering your other ventures."

"No," Tien told his employer, "it is not a problem at all. Our students can train by themselves now, so we still have spare time for farming. Isn't that right, Chaotzu?"

"Right!" Chaotzu said happily.

After the defeat of Majin Buu, Tien shinhan and Chaotzu took up farming. Not only was this a way to earn a living for themselves, but farming also added to their own training, little by little. It was even a part of the training that Tien's New Crane School practiced, especially for newcomers.

"So do not worry about us, Mr. Puck," Tien spoke, "we are still fine being hired out as farmers."

"That's a relief," Owen Puck replied, "I'm glad I'm not taking away much of your time. I am really interested in seeing you two at work."

"Is that so? I'm not surprised; since Gohan published his book, we have been in even higher-"

Tien's eyes widened as he sensed a familiar Ki close by, and he looked in the direction of a nearby forest. "Hm, what's wrong?" Owen asked.

"Why is Goku coming here?" Tien asked.

"EH!? GOKU, YOU SAY!?"

* * *

><p>"Huh? Tien Shinhan and Chaotzu?" Goku had also sensed both of his friends' Ki.<p>

"The martial arts teachers at the New Crane School?" Bard stated, having heard of the two teachers. "Ah, that's right; my grandpa said he planned to hire the two to help out at his farm. To be honest, it is more of a scientific interest on his part."

The group soon saw light up ahead as they came near the edge of the forest. "'A scientific interest', you say," Pan inquired as they came out of the forest. "Why would your grandfather…?"

"HEY! SON GOKU!"

"Eh!?" Goku was startled as he saw the middle-aged man quickly running up to him from the nearby house, an excited look on his face. Once he got up close, he promptly grabbed Goku's hand and began to shake it fervently.

"Amazing! I did not expect to meet you in person for quite some time! My name is Owen Puck, and I am so happy to see you!"

"H-hey, Grandpa, don't act so excited!" Bard quickly pleaded. "Honestly, you are acting like a child meeting his idol!"

"Puck…" Pan muttered, trying to recall where she heard that name before. "Wait, you mean THE Owen Puck, the creator of Space Age Incorporated?"

"Yep," Owen said happily, "I am that man." He looked over and saw his grandson, Bard. "Bard, what are you doing here?"

Pan, Uub and Goku fell down from disbelief. "You only noticed me just now!?" Bard pleaded.

Owen Puck was the creator of an up and coming corporation named Space Age Incorporated that worked closely with the World Government. He made frontline news six years ago with the development of the Space Expansion Attachment (SEA) that worked the inverse to Dr. Brief's capsules; as the Dynocaps Capsules shrunk objects down into capsules for compact and easy transportation, the SEA created a pocket dimension within an enclosed space, leading to objects with the SEA attachment being much bigger on the inside than on the outside.

"It is surprisingly a lot like the Room of Spirit and Time", Bulma once told Pan after a business meeting with Puck, "but it is much smaller in scale. It basically takes the same application used by my Father and applies it in the inverse – making objects bigger on the inside rather than storing objects in a pocket dimension inside the Capsules."

Owen wanted to enter into collaboration with Bulma in order to expand his business ventures and become partners with the Capsule Corporation. In the initial stages, they tried to apply SEA onto a Capsule device directly to combine the two technologies. As it was a test to see if the two technologies were compatible, the experiment was done on a Space Age Inc. Exo-Station in the upper reaches of the atmosphere by Instant Tele-control Robots.

An investigation a week later revealed the Exo-Station was sucked into an empty pocket dimension by the attempt.

With the initial experiment a failure, Bulma and Owen reached a safer solution: the SEA would be an attachment for a special new line of Capsule Products designed to be compatible with it, and would have a special fail-safe to prevent the product from returning to Capsule form if the SEA was still attached. So far, it was used as an attachment for the Capsule House, storage containers, and a variety of Capsule vehicles, each priced at double the standard model.

Puck affectionately called them "clown vehicles".

"Sorry, but I thought you were still off training," Owen told his grandson. "I didn't expect you back for a while." He then looked at Pan and Uub. "I certainly didn't expect you to bring company, either."

Goku replied. "You might already know," he pointed toward Uub, "but this Uub, my student…" then he gestured to Pan "and my granddaughter, Pan. Your son invited all of us here."

"Yes, I do remember those names from the 28th Budokai..."

"Goku, what are you doing here?"

Goku looked past Owen to see Tien and Chaotzu coming up from behind. "Oh, there you are. It has been so long, hasn't it?"

"Over ten years, Son Goku," Tien replied, "not since what happened with Shenlong that time."

"What time is he talking about," Bard asked Pan as the three old friends began to discuss how their lives had been.

Pan began to recount the story. "A long time ago," she began, "there was wish made to bring someone back to life...someone terrible."

"Someone was brought back from the dead…" Bard could hardly believe what Pan was saying, but he did hear his grandfather recount times when people had been brought back from the dead mysteriously, and the name "Shenlong" had come up in those accounts.

Owen was listening to Pan. "Was it the Dragon Balls?"

The Z-Fighters snapped to attention at the mention of the Dragon Balls…artifacts long since gone. "Puck…How do you know so much about us?" Tien glared at Puck. "How do you even know about the Dragon Balls?"

Owen simply smiled. "I saw Goku…I saw him at the 21st Budokai Tenkaichi."

"That was so long ago…" Goku commented.

"It feels like yesterday to me. As a young child, I looked up to Dr. Briefs and Capsule Corporation and wanted to become a great inventor like him when I was older. I did not much care for martial arts at the time, but my father took me to see the 21st Budokai Tenkaichi.

"I was amazed at the strength of some of the martial artists there…" He looked at Goku. "Particularly two young fighters called Krillin and Son Goku, children the same age as me yet stronger than most fully grown men. I was astonished that they could be so strong – then again I saw that most of the audience was also surprised.

"Then I saw it. In the finals of that tournament, I saw the Kamehameha."

"Did you now?" Goku said. He could not explain it, but it made him feel happy that he had inspired Owen back then. "I'm surprised you could still remember that so clearly."

"You turned into a giant ape and Roshi blew up the Moon," Owen said flatly, "how could I not forget?"

"You must have forgotten something," Goku's brow furrowed, "because I fought Jackie Chun at the tournament, not Master Roshi."

Owen's body clenched in disbelief. "JACKIE CHUN **_WAS_** ROSHI!"

"I can attest to what he is saying," Tien interjected, "I learnt of that from Shin during the 22nd Budokai."

"EH?! NO WAY!"

"You mean the old man never told you," Owen muttered under his breath. "Well, better decades later than never."

"It makes so much sense," Goku spoke in awe. "The Kamehameha; how he knew Grandpa Gohan. His disguise was perfect!"

"It was just A WIG!"

Owen sighed. "Anyway, after what I saw at the 21st Budokai, I became interested in learning what it all was and what it meant. What was that power, where was it drawn from, what uses could it be applied to beyond fighting, and how it could be manipulated. The Thunder Shock Surprise was something I was especially interested in, and seeing the Dodon-Pa confirmed one of my theories about that energy: it could be shaped to have properties of elements in nature, such as lightning and fire.

"But," Owen suddenly said, "Since you want to know how I know about the Dragon Balls, I will explain this now. After the 22nd Budokai, it made the news that various martial artists who participated in the tournament were being killed, and it just as suddenly made the news that they had all come back to life somehow. There had to be something to it, so over the years I searched for an answer and came across the folktale of the Dragon Balls. Considering the things I saw at the Budokai, I could not think of a more proper explanation. After all, many folktales have their basis in some form of truth."

"After the 23rd Budokai, I lost track of you and your friends, and finally settled down and had a family…" Owen looked at Bard and smiled. "At that point, I had also started to establish Space Age Incorporated, and one of my first designs was a device created to detect the energies that I saw used at the Budokai."

"In other words, a Scouter…" Goku added. It had been a long time since he thought about the Scouters the Saiyans and Frieza's men used to measure power levels.

"When East City was erased from the Earth's face, the device immediately detected the surge in energy, and I sent a team to investigate with permission from the World Army. We found two capsule-like vehicles in the wreckage. While one flew away, we procured the other…" He folded his arms and contemplated the event. "But it exploded for some reason shortly after we started investigating it, and I could only scavenge what technology I could from the remains…"

He noticed Goku scratching his head nervously, and looked over in consternation. "Would I be right in assuming that your group had something to do with that?"

Goku chuckled nervously. "Sorry, but Bulma accidentally made it self-destruct…"

Owen cast his eyes skyward. "Kami, give me patience. But even with that thing blown up, I tried to make a functional drive out of it, though I had to go through a lot of trial and error. I worked and continually failed for over a decade until…"

Owen's eyes widened, as if he caught himself about to say something. Everyone around him noticed this. "…But I'm getting ahead of myself," he spoke, side-stepping his slip of the tongue. "What technology I was successful in adapting was…"

As Owen continued speaking, Pan looked over at Bard to see his eyes cast down to the earth, not paying attention to his grandfather's tale. _Bard, was what your grandfather almost said something very important…?_

"…Which I used in the creation of my Exo-Stations. During this time, my daughter Breia – Bard's mother – took an interest in martial arts after looking at some of my old notes. Sadly, she could not effectively replicate the techniques I wrote about, and stuck to conventional martial arts.

"So went life, and then that creature Cell appeared, and later announced the Cell Games. When the broadcast aired, although you all looked different from before, especially Goku, I was happy to see you all again, and amazed once more at your power. After that…"

"You met _that man, _didn't you?" Goku interjected.

Owen froze. "What do you mean?"

"Just now, you mentioned that your daughter could not replicate the techniques we use," Goku explained, "and you were talking about how you could not replicate the Space Pod's drive from the remains you had. Bard told me that he learnt what he knows from his father, so he could not have learnt anything from Breia, and I assume that he might have something to do with what you were mentioning about the spaceship's drive."

"I apologize for interrupting you, but I think it needs to be asked: who is Bard's father?"

Pan saw that Bard looked ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I was just happy to actually interact with more people who were like me."

Owen looked at his grandson, and sighed. "Well, you would have found out anyway, so I guess this is the best time to tell you about _him."_

"Roughly twenty years ago, a spaceship crashed near my estate. When I went to investigate, I found a young boy inside and brought him to my house to tend to his wounds. I had it covered up because I did not want anyone to know about who I had found in the ship. When the boy came to, he had quite the temper, and he could not speak the common tongue of Earth. I took it upon myself to teach him the language of Earth, and eventually learnt his name."

Owen paused, and drew in a breath.

"The boy's name was Kanto, Bard's father, and he said he was from a race of aliens called Saiyans."

**A Lava Planet in the East Galaxy**

"Y-you want me to what?!" Malaka screamed.

"Do not make me repeat myself," Kanto threated, holding Malaka over a river of lava. "You will tell me the locations of the remaining bases the World Trade Organization has hidden throughout the four galaxies. Agree to this, and I will spare your life."

"Y-yet you will destroy all the others!" Malaka protested. "Why? It's been decades! Why do you still want revenge for your people, the Saiyans, when Frieza and his father are dead?"

Kanto smiled. "You seem to know a lot about my intentions."

Malaka could feel his feet getting hot. "An S.O.S. from one of our bases 13 years ago told us you wanted vengeance – vengeance against the Arcosians, Master Frieza's race!"

It was true that was once Kanto's goal - to take revenge on Frieza's people for what happened to his home.

But that had changed...except for one thing.

"My goals are more specific than that. There is one individual in particular that I am looking for."

"Y-you mean…!"

Kanto stopped smiling. "Where…Is…Cooler?"


End file.
